The safe house wasn’t safe anymore.

Not when eyes were everywhere. Not when Luciano’s silence grew heavier by the hour.

Serena watched him from across the dimly lit room. Sleeves rolled up. Bruised knuckles. A storm behind his eyes.

She hadn’t seen him like this.
Not even when he threatened her father.
Not even when he took her as his wife.

This was something darker.

Something personal.

She stood, notebook in hand. “Tell me about him.”

Luciano didn’t look up.

“You don’t want to know.”

“I want to understand.”

His jaw clenched. Then loosened, like the truth itself was a wound reopening.

“Lorenzo De Luca. My elder brother. The one who taught me how to shoot, how to survive, how to manipulate a room with a single look.”

Serena swallowed.

“What happened?”

Luciano finally met her gaze.

“I killed the man he loved.”

Silence.

“I didn’t know,” he added. “Not then. I thought I was protecting the family. I thought I was doing what had to be done. But Lorenzo never forgave me.”

Serena stepped closer. “So now he’s coming for your heart.”

Luciano smirked bitterly. “He thinks you are my heart.”

Her voice was barely a whisper. “Are you going to deny it?”

His silence said everything.

That night, Serena couldn’t sleep.

Not when she knew someone out there wanted her dead.
Not when the man who gave her freedom now stood at the edge of losing everything.

So she made a decision.

She called someone from her past.
Someone she hadn’t spoken to since faking her death.
A hacker. A reader. A friend.

And she made a deal.

“Find everything you can on Lorenzo De Luca. Weaknesses, movements, locations. I’m done being written into someone else’s war.”

By morning, the plan was clear.

Serena walked into Luciano’s war room, notebook tucked under her arm.

“I’m not just your wife,” she said, meeting his stare. “I’m your ally. Your weapon.”

“You’re a writer,” he reminded her, a muscle twitching in his jaw.

“And every writer knows—sometimes the only way to end the story… is to confront the one who started it.”

Luciano stepped forward, voice low.

“If you go into this world with me, there’s no going back.”

Serena’s reply came without hesitation.

“Then let’s burn the plot to the ground.”